10 Most Common Concerns About Managed IT Services Agreements

If you run a company, you have probably been pitched a managed IT services agreement for a variety of services. If you’ve been pitched, but haven’t pulled the trigger, there are some common fears that may be holding you back.

As a Managed IT Services company, Novatech has helped many companies overcome concerns and get to the safety and security of managed services they deserve. Before we deal with the benefits, let’s talk about the fears that may prevent you from taking the next step. We will cover some of the most common fears people have before signing their first managed IT contract.

10 Common Concerns about Managed IT Services Contracts

By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of the background driving these fears. Then you can prioritize what needs to be addressed before moving forward with a managed IT support agreement.

1 – Cost is too high.

Many companies we speak to shy away from managed IT Services, because they fear it is too expensive. Granted, for a new startup with two employees, they are probably correct. There’s a point where the need for a safe, secure and smooth network operation overtakes the cost of maintaining the network correctly.

For most companies with 10+ employees, Managed IT companies will normally charge about $150 per month per user to provide awesome 24×7 monitoring, managed security and an IT help desk. Your users won’t fumble with IT or try to fix and patch their own stuff anymore. You can even break this support down to an hourly rate to simplify the costs, which comes to about $1 per hour per full time employee.

If this cost picture is outside your budget, it’s something to consider for the future and a target goal for your company when you are ready to outsource IT.

2 – IT technicians are impossible to deal with.

You may have the feeling every time you ask for help, you will get someone who tells you to turn  the computer off and on, and never actually helps. Most people have had a bad experience somewhere with an IT support person whom they found impossible to deal with.

However, you have likely also had good experiences. The best IT companies invest in training employees on how to be more useful to clients. This includes not feeding them long lists of technical jargon or lectures about how they, the client, broke something on the network.

3 – It will upset the people currently handling our IT.

This is one of the most common fears. Interestingly, we find if the in-house IT person was put into that role out of necessity, they are the happiest to have an agreement in place, so they can get back to the job they were hired to do. If it is an outside IT tech who doesn’t have a ton of clients or experience, they are likely to be upset.

The important question to ask is how much are they costing you, how much are they helping and do you feel comfortable they know enough to keep your data secure from phishing and malware attacks? (This is more than just installing antivirus software.) It’s never easy to deal with people who are upset, but this is about doing what’s best for your business and end users.

4 – Loss of control will come back to bite you.

This fear is common when the company owner oversees IT support. They like controlling the data and computers, and outsourcing feels like a loss of control. In actuality, having a solid managed IT company will give the C-level more control because:

• File access rules will be set.
• Folders will have restricted access.
• Computers will be audited and secured properly.
• Firewalls will be installed and firmware up to date.

 

The beauty of a managed IT services contract is that it is cooperative. This means any part of the organization you would like to keep a close eye on, we can establish rules and policies to help enforce that wish. For example, firewalls can prevent unwanted web traffic (like employees using social media at work.)

The IT company becomes the owner’s right hand, helping direct and guiding the behaviors you want to see from your staff. We deploy state-of-the-art tools to enforce the security you expect.

5 – Someone will lose a job.

Another common fear is that when IT is outsourced, employees will be pushed out of work, perhaps some we are quite fond of. In reality, we find this rarely occurs. When leadership and key staff focus on growing the business and not IT, this creates more jobs than it would ever be lost to outsourcing.

What normally happens is when a company reduces headcount in one department, they find other areas in the business where those employees can add value in new ways.

6 – You’ll break what we already have.

Another fear is when the IT company comes in with their technology stack, they will break something your company uses routinely, and this will create some kind of operational inefficiency or drama with the staff. Part of an assessment is to look for these critical applications and make sure they don’t break on you.

If your IT company isn’t asking about what your applications and what computers you use them on, something is off, and you should be concerned. Understand there are applications that must work to run your business is critical for a successful managed IT solution. Like all the fears on this list, there is always a valid point in them, the goal to to reduce the risks and threats with a well executed plan.

7 – You’ll make us do a bunch of complicated stuff.

This is another fair concern if you’ve ever worked with typical IT technicians. With traditional support techs, there is a weird affinity for complicating things, so they can tell you what they know about routers, services, DNS, and other lingo.

You may or may not have an interest in these concepts, but no one likes their job to be harder or more irritating, especially when you’re paying for the service. A good managed IT services company will approach IT the opposite way. They want to make your IT infrastructure easier and require less work, intervention and explanation. Their goal is to have your computers available, usable, safe and efficient at all times. Complicating things for users isn’t part of that plan.

8 – You’ll have all our data.

This fear is another fear you are right to be concerned about. Any engagement should include a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which protects your data and has legal consequences if your IT provider violates your access or usage agreements. This is even more important for professionals who are handling serious and sensitive information (like accountants and attorneys.)

One question worth asking would be how does the managed IT services company train their employees and make sure employees can’t leak sensitive information? This is one of the most important jobs of an IT company, to protect your data, so there should be a plan that restricts unauthorized access to files (including files the IT company has no business accessing.)

9 – It will take too long.

One of the frequent fears we hear is from clients who think getting them on a managed IT plan might take up to six months. That would be far too long and very concerning. The real setup is normally completed in 30 days or less. It does require some cooperation from clients, but this is not a forever project! You should get a timeline and a scope of work so there are no surprises along the way.

10 – We’re paralyzed by fear of the unknown.

This is probably the most common fear we run into. Humans fear things we don’t know or understand. So there is a general fear that feels a little like, “What am I getting myself into?” If you have this worry, it’s normal. Your company should make their reps available to discuss any detail or anything on your mind until you feel comfortable. Their job is to support your company.

Common Concerns Means We All Have Them

If you have any of these ten fears, you’re not alone, and you’re never alone. The best managed IT partners should walk you through these and go more into depth if you wish. A good IT company thrives on delighting customers and getting your technology up to speed.

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